Ubuntu 14.04: Programming Environments

This is a continuation of my Ubuntu 14.04 Install.  In the previous post, I covered all of my notes on installing network/Internet-related configuration.  In this post, I’ll cover setting up my programming environments and applications.  If you would like to see the list of posts in this series, you can look at the Ubuntu 14.04 Install page.

Gvim

I really like using the Gvim text editor for many editing tasks.  It’s not a full fledged IDE, but it’s great for single files. It’s a simple install from the Software Center — the vim-gnome package.

I have some plugins in my plugin directories and a customized configuration.  So, I restored my ~/.vim directory and /.vimrc.  I changed the directory for the backup files as well.  I have this in my .vimrc:

set bdir=~/.vimtmp
set directory=~/.vimtmp

So, I needed to create a ~/.vimtmp directory.

Git

I use the git source code control tool for several things.  I installed the Cola Git GUI as a nice front end, and that includes installing the base git package as well.

Brackets

I have really liked using Brackets for my PHP/Angular/HTML development.  It’s easy to install.

I just downloaded the deb package from the website:

Downloading Brackets

Now, I like a few of the extensions, so I wanted to install those as well.  In Brackets, I when to File > Extension Manager.  I installed:

  • Brackets Git
  • Theseus for Brackets (see this link)

Java

I installed Sun’s version of Java, or should I say Oracle’s version.  If for no other reason, that will give me JavaFX.  I did a little looking, and I found that there is an open source version: OpenJFX.  Unfortunately, there are no packages for it; you have to build it yourself. So, I took the easy way out.

I installed Java with WebUpd’s repository:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install oracle-java7-installer

Next, I installed the JavaFX Scene Builder by downloading the DEB package from Oracle’s website.

Downloading JavaFX Scene Builder

To confirm, you can run java -version…

$ java -version
java version "1.7.0_55"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_55-b13)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 24.55-b03, mixed mode)

 

 

Eclipse

The Eclipse version in the repositories is still the old 3.8.1 version.  Without delving into it, it looks like this is the same version as was in Ubuntu 13.10.

Instead, I downloaded the version from the Eclipse website: version 4.3.2.

Downloading Eclipse

I unzipped it in the Downloads directory and copied it to the share directory:

cd ~/Downloads
tar -xzvf eclipse*.tar.gz
sudo cp -r eclipse /usr/share/

To put it on the path, I created a symbolic link:

sudo ln -s /usr/share/eclipse/eclipse /usr/bin/eclipse

For a menu shortcut, I needed to create an icon:

cd /usr/share/eclipse/
sudo convert icon.xpm -resize 48x48 /usr/share/icons/eclipse.png

Finally, I used Menu Libre to create a new shortcut for the menu.

Adding Eclipse Shortcut

Eclipse Plugins

I use a number of plugins with Eclipse.  I installed the plugins from Help > Install New Software.  The Kepler Update site was already in the list…

http://download.eclipse.org/releases/kepler

Installing Available Software

And, I added these plugins:

  • Collaboration > Command Line Interface for Java Implementation of Git
  • Collaboration > Eclipse Git Team Provider
  • Collaboration > Eclipse GitHub Integration with task focused interface
  • Collaboration > Java Implementation of Git
  • Collaboration > Java Implementation of Git – optional Java 7 libraries
  • Collaboration > Mylyn Context Connector: Eclipse IDE
  • Collaboration > Mylyn Context Connector: Java Development
  • Collaboration > Mylyn Context Connector: Plug-in Development
  • Collaboration > Mylyn Task List
  • Collaboration > Mylyn Task-Focused Interface
  • Collaboration > Mylyn Versions Connector: Git
  • General Purpose Tools > Swing Designer
  • General Purpose Tools > Swing Designer Documentation
  • Web, XML, Java EE and OSGi Enterprise Development > Eclipse Web Developer Tools
  • Web, XML, Java EE and OSGi Enterprise Development > Eclipse Java Web Developer Tools
  • Web, XML, Java EE and OSGi Enterprise Development > Eclipse XML Editors and Tools
  • Web, XML, Java EE and OSGi Enterprise Development > Javascript Development Tools
  • Web, XML, Java EE and OSGi Enterprise Development > PHP Development Tools

Finally, to make developing with Java FX easier, I installed the e(fx)clipse plugin for Eclipse.  Their install page is pretty good and detailed.

I just added two sites to Window > Preferences under Install/Update > Available Software:

  • http://download.eclipse.org/efxclipse/updates-released/0.9.0/site
  • http://download.eclipse.org/modeling/tmf/xtext/updates/composite/releases/

Adding e(fx)clipse site

On my first attempt, I got this error message:

Cannot complete the install because one or more required items could not be found. Software being installed: e(fx)clipse – IDE 1.0.0.201405070703 (org.eclipse.fx.ide.feature.feature.group 1.0.0.201405070703)
Missing requirement: e(fx)clipse – IDE – FXGraph 1.0.0.201405070703 (org.eclipse.fx.ide.fxgraph.feature.feature.group 1.0.0.201405070703) requires ‘org.eclipse.xtext.sdk.feature.group 2.5.0’ but it could not be found
Cannot satisfy dependency: From: e(fx)clipse – IDE 1.0.0.201405070703 (org.eclipse.fx.ide.feature.feature.group 1.0.0.201405070703) To: org.eclipse.fx.ide.fxgraph.feature.feature.group [1.0.0.201405070703]

It was because I was using an old URL that I had used back when I was installing last time (http://download.eclipse.org/efxclipse/updates-nightly/site).  When I changed it to the new one, it worked with no problems.

On the Install Dialog (Help > Install Software), I picked e(fx)clipse – install > e(fx)clipse – IDE.  Then, I just let it do it’s thing:

Installing e(fx)clipse

Android Development

I downloaded the SDK from Google’s Website.  

Last time, I just pulled out this SDK directory and used the update site to load the IDE plugins into my existing Eclipse.  This time, I think I am going to just use the whole package as is.

So, I extracted adt-bundle-linux-x86_64-20140321.zip and copied the resulting directory to $HOME/bin/.  Then, I just made shortcuts with MenuLibre to:

  • $HOME/bin/adt-bundle-linux-x86_64-20140321/eclipse/eclipse
  • $HOME/bin/adt-bundle-linux-x86_64-20140321/sdk/tools/ddms
  • $HOME/bin/adt-bundle-linux-x86_64-20140321/sdk/tools/android

Adding shortcuts to the Android SDK programs

Because I had done it differently on my previous install, I had to open the ADT Eclipse and change the path to the SDK.  That’s under Window > Preferences and the Android page.

SQL Developer

I downloaded SQL Developer from Oracle’s SQL Developer website.  They are on version 4.0.2 now.  I downloaded the Windows 32/64-bit version.

Downloading SQL Developer

Then, I built the zip file into a deb package like this:

sudo apt-get install sqldeveloper-package
make-sqldeveloper-package -b output \
          sqldeveloper*.zip
sudo dpkg -i sqldeveloper*all.deb

Installing the package went fine.  Because I had restored my .sqldeveloper directory, it found that and offered to import it.

Confirm Import Preferences

Then, it crashed.  I think this is the same problem I had on my last install.  You can see more details on the Fixing SQL Developer 4.0 post.  This time, I just ran this command to edit the launcher script:

sudo  gedit /usr/bin/sqldeveloper

Then, I added these two lines at the top of the script (After the # sqldeveloper line).

unset GNOME_DESKTOP_SESSION_ID
unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS

It still wouldn’t work after doing this, so I’m not sure what the problem is now.  I’ll have to come back to this.  Please comment if you have any ideas.

Next Steps

If you want to see the rest of my notes on other parts of the install, please continue on to the post on media programs.

Resources

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